It was one of those days where on my way homeward I was suddenly engulfed in a flood of tiredness. I felt the need for something waken up my liver bile, so headed to Umair, on Morrison Street.

This is a place that I’ve wandered past on many occasions. Frankly, for their business viability, I think rather too many people wander past, as it never seems to be all that busy, as was the case on my visit.

Aloo ghobi

Their menu offers a broad range of dishes from which to choose. I settled upon the daal soup to start, followed by the Hyderabad special for main, accompanied by aloo ghobi and a paratha. I accompanied this with traditional lager.

The soup promptly arrived, looking simple and piping hot. It proved to be very enjoyable, with an excellent blend of spices giving a well rounded balance of flavours. The part blended, part whole lentils texture of the soup worked really well, too. I thought it a rather good dish.

Hyderabad special

The main course wasn’t quite up to that standard. The Hyderabad special was a bit of a mish-mash of a dish, and the paratha was like shoe-leather. The aloo ghobi packed some powerful cauliflower flavour to it, so was the highlight.

Paratha

So overall, I felt a little sorry for Umair. There are many worse Indians doing much better business, in this city. Their soup was very good, with really pleasingly warm seasoning. Their main course was more standard fare, and the paratha was just plain bad, but I was left with a little feeling of wistfulness, about the dining experience.

If Umair happens to be one of your favourite Indian restaurants, and it’s conceivable it could be, you should pay it a visit soon, as they seem to be struggling for business. At the same time, they could help themselves by executing dishes with just a little more precision, particularly the bread, to spark a little greater interest in what they have to offer.

Scores
Blythe scores Umair
3.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 13/20